Preview | Hamburger SV vs Borussia Dortmund: The return of Niko Kovač | OneFootball

On Saturday afternoon, Hamburger SV will be hoping to cause an upset and beat Borussia Dortmund, giving them a much-needed victory after three loses on the bounce.

Standing in their way is a much-improved Niko Kovač side that looks to have learned lessons from last campaign’s turbulent form. A win for BVB could send them up to second in the table, depending on how RB Leipzig fares against TSG Hoffenheim. 

Hamburger SV

HSV are coming off the back of a thumping 4-1 loss last weekend against fellow new boys, FC Köln. Scoring goals and conceding them has clearly been an issue for HSV this season. Merlin Polzin’s side are the Bundesliga’s joint-least potent team in front of goal (8 goals), along with FC Heidenheim. What’s more, they’re facing a Dortmund side who have six clean sheets from a possible nine in the Bundesliga – only Bayern Munich can match that. From a defensive point of view, they’ve shipped 15 goals in 9 games. Though it’s not the league’s worst defence, it’s not helping when you’re averaging less than a goal per game. 

Arsenal loanee, Fábio Vieira, will be absent from the game against BVB following a red card in last week’s defeat. The second red card of the season for the attacking midfielder will certainly cause a bit of concern and raise questions about whether the 25-year-old can contain his aggression in big matches. 

Whilst opting for a 4-3-3 last weekend, Polzin may choose to tweak his formation slightly, given the strength of the opponent. 

HSV may set up similar to how they did against Bayern Munich earlier in the campaign and go with a 5-3-2 / 3-4-3 with wingbacks. Granted, HSV lost that game 5-0, but the blueprint may be the same if they can contain BVB longer than they did Bayern. 

Borussia Dortmund

BVB can make it three Bundesliga wins in a row with a win at the Volksparkstadion. During the week, Dortmund were very much second best as they lost 4-1 away to Manchester City. Similar to their game against Bayern a few weeks back, Kovač’s side left it too late to assert themselves in a big match. However, in a game they’ll be expected to dominate, Dortmund should feel confident that they can force their own agenda on Saturday. 

For head coach Niko Kovač, it will be a return to familiar surroundings when his team arrives in Hamburg. Between 1999 and 2001, Kovač made 55 Bundesliga appearances for the club. 

From a team news perspective, there are no new injury concerns from their midweek outing. Emre Can made his return during the defeat, having been out for 173 days. Though it would possibly be too early for Can to start, he’s likely to feature from the bench this weekend. 

Dortmund may make a couple of changes from midweek, most likely dropping Marcel Sabitzer and even Maximilian Beier, depending on the formation they opt for.  

Head-to-Head

As expected, this fixture does not make for great reading for HSV fans. Their last victory against Dortmund came on November 20th 2015, beating them 3-1 at home. Since then, BVB have won all five previous meetings with an aggregate score of 16-2. 

GGFN | Jamie Allen